As we continue into the summer film season, we are besieged with a plethora of big-budget films galore. Since Hollywood's main demographic, being the 18-24 year old single males being out of school, this is the perfect time to release these films. After all, these expensive films have to be paid for by the demographics in those theater seats--ca-ching! So now we have yet another installment of a very old franchise titled "Godzilla: King of the Monsters".
This new story chronicles the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch headed up by Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) as its members including Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler), Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), Dr. Rick Stanton (Bradley Whitford), Sam Coleman (Thomas Middleditch) and others face off against a battery of god sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient superspecies, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity's very existence hanging in the balance.
Others to round out the cast are Ziyi Zhang as Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling, Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham, Charles Dance as Jonah Alan, Aisha Hinds as Colonel Diane Foster, O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Chief Warrant Officer Barnes, David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz and Anthony Ramos as Staff Sgt. Martinez.
This was directed by a filmmaker that has centered a good deal on the horror genre which is Michael Dougherty ("Trick 'r Treat" '07, "Krampus" '15) plus TV and shorts. Certainly big-budget films have been within his comfort zone considering his writing credits, but horror seems to be something he's partial of. Considering the genres he's been involved with, he definitely understands the word intensity and knows how to extract that intensity and grit out of his actors and this film is no exception. His next films certainly keep him in that comfort zone with "Godzilla vs. Kong" expecting a 2020 release and "Trick 'r Treat 2" has been announced. It was noisily and intensely written also by Dougherty ("X2: X-Men United" '03, "Superman Returns" '06, "Trick 'r Treat" '07, "Krampus" '15) plus shorts, and Zach Shields ("Krampus" '15) plus shorts. As the Godzilla franchise films go, this was one of the better ones in that the premise seemed doable--in this Godzilla defends us, however it took way too long to get the meat of the plot--a bit too long-in-the-tooth. While the relationship within the family here was attempting to blossom, it simply couldn't because of the cacophony of noise being generated by the plethora of visual effects, not to mention that the storyline had a tendency to jump around too much. Dougherty, having the lion's share of the writing certainly is a seasoned writer, especially with this familiar genre, but what happened here? Bad day at the laptop? Not sure, but what could be the problem is that this genre has been done and redone time and again. As said prior, this is not a bad premise as compared to past installments, so the assumption has to be, why continue with a tired genre? How many Godzilla films have we endured? The list is endless: "Godzilla" '54, "Godzilla" '98, "Godzilla: Final Wars" '04, "Godzilla" '14, "Shin Godzilla" '16, "Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters" '17 to mention a handful. As I had mentioned prior, we will be offered yet another of the franchise next year, "Godzilla vs. Kong". If there was a franchise that either needs a total overhaul or to let die, it is this one. Maybe, just maybe, the one next year will be different. The visual effects predominantly created by MPC (Moving Picture Company), Double Negative and Method Studios were seamless, however had a tendency to overshadow the story.
Certainly if you're a Godzilla fan, you will be in that heaven, especially if loud and tons of visual effects are something you can get into, otherwise one might have a problem with this. But considering it is definitely to be seen on the large, if your plan is to see this, I would advise to see it on the big screen, lest it be lost on a 50 incher.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 132mins.
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